Wraith
The Wraith was a Covenant Battle Tank, that was mostly used by the Halo franchise, in order to be identified as the main Covenant Battle Tank in order to fight off the UNSC Scorpion. Many of these tanks come in multiple forms since Halo Combat Evolved in the year 2001, and were even upgraded into anti air combat and heavily fortified armored vehicles by Halos 2, 3, and 4. The Wraith is used by some Xbox Live Players during Matchmaking events, but many players prefer the Scopion over the Wraith Tank, however RagingSun6989 was shown to be fond of the Wraith, and appears to use the Wraith even more than Scorpions, as he is also shown to attempt to take a Wraith during campaign most of the time. In the Moderation War, RagingSun6989's main land vehicle was the Wraith Tank, while his main flying vehicle was the Banshee, at the end of the Moderation War, the Wraith that RagingSun6989 was always Operating had survived the entire war and was given to him by Bungie and 343 Industries, along with the Banshee, at the end of the War. Designs The Type-26 Assault Gun Carriage is the primary armored fighting vehicle used by the Covenant. The Covenant deploy the Wraith as a first-strike ground assault vehicle in tactical ground engagements, using it as a weapons platform to bring down structures in the way of ground forces attempting to advance in an area, as well as to destroy enemy armor posing a threat to their own infantry. In addition, the Wraith is used to break the ranks of enemy infantry by both physical and psychological force. Wielding a massive, bulbous and thickly armored mortar assault gun, the Wraith is used by the Covenant as their main armored assault vehicle for ground forces. Like all Covenant vehicles the Type-26 AGC's design is a sleek winged vehicle design more akin to an aircraft than a ground vehicle. The Type 26 AGC is composed of four major components: The chassis, is the first and major component and consists of the cockpit, which contains the controls for the pilot, these include the controls that move the vehicle,align the mortar on-target, and arms and fires the main battery. Holographic control surfaces and displays show the pilot a 360-degree view outside the Wraith. Underneath is its propulsion system consisting of a Boosted gravity propulsion drive, the chassis also contains the necessary systems that power all other systems on the vehicle. Two wide lateral fins are the second major component to the Type-26 AGC, the fins stabilize the vehicle on terrain, as well as provide the vehicle thrust to attain limited boost for enhanced maneuverability. The the third major component is the rudders, which control the turning or yaw-axis of the vehicle. The rudders use two independent propulsion drives to help turn the vehicle. The fourth major component is the gun carriage, this contains the Type-26 AGC's main weapon; the heavy mortar cannon. The huge bulk of the Wraith is well shielded by an armored shell that is nearly two feet (61 cm) thick and made up of a polymer that is not understood by human physicists. Piloted by a single occupant, who controls all the vehicle and weapons systems, the Type-26 AGC is a highly maneuverable vehicle able to traverse many terrain types. The Type-26 AGC like all Covenant vehicles utilises a form of anti-gravity propulsion drive to cushion and absorb almost all of the recoil caused by the heavy mortar cannon. The Wraith's large size and its ability to provide covering fire from the massive Plasma Mortar makes it an inestimably dangerous vehicle on the battlefield. The Wraith is the third largest Covenant ground force vehicle, after the Locust and Scarab. ''Armaments The main weapon of the Type-26 AGC is the Heavy Plasma Mortar. The Type-26 AGC's plasma emitter is attached to a fixed mounting, in order to fire in a specific direction the vehicle must rotate to face the target directly. The plasma mortar works by creating a large, compressed, magnetically encapsulated blob of superheated plasma and fired at a high velocity, once fired, the bolt is magnetically guided in a ballistic trajectory until it strikes the ground or target. When the bolt hits, the magnetic bubble collapses and the plasma rapidly expands from its compressed state creating a superheated explosion, that will vaporize everything within twenty meters of impact. Titanium battleplate, concrete, or flesh is instantly obliterated by the superheated white fire. Anything just outside of the kill zone is at risk of injury or death — after the initial impact, the plasma begins to cool and thermal expansion takes over fanning out the resulting flames that can travel away from the initial blast zone, infantry caught in the flame can be burned alive and if not caught in the flames can suffer heat trauma, the concussive force released from the resulting explosion can splinter bones and destroy vital organs. Flammable materials are especially at risk of igniting due to the intense heat release and can cause further damage. As the resulting temperatures cool, the impact zone is nothing but a glass-smooth surface. The secondary weapon is a medium plasma weapon that is used as an anti-infantry weapon. All Type-26 AGC's in service up to 2549 were equipped with two automated plasma cannons. These plasma cannons mounted on each wing, and are operated autonomously, it is not understood what method the system uses to designate and fire upon an enemy. All Type-26 AGC's in service after 2549 are equipped with a Type-52 Directed Energy Support Weapon fixed to a ring mount that is operated by a gunner, the role of the Type-52 DESW as an anti-infantry weapon means that the firepower produced by this weapon is considerably high, able to penetrate flesh with considerably gruesome results. The Type-52 DESW functions like most plasma based weapons used by the Covenant by rapidly cycling, loading, ignition, and release of plasma at high velocities. The plasma is contained and guided by an electromagnetic bottle which guides the plasma until it either travels too far away from the magnetic source and dissipates, or strikes its intended target. Against infantry, the lethality of the Type-52 DESW is severe as injuries inflicted to infantry with light body armor are severe fourth-degree burns, this level of injury completely chars all flesh, leaving only bone tissue. Body fluids along with moist tissue and flesh would be subjected to flash vaporization, and fluids trapped in organs or arteries in addition to the rapid expansion of heat would cause ruptures or small steam explosions causing additional damage to the body. 'Advantages' The Type-26 AGC is the Covenant’s most destructive mobile armor. Its huge bulk is well shielded from small arms fire and is resistant to medium explosive weapons, its ability to provide covering fire to infantry and armor alike, in addition to dealing heavy damage to structures, infantry and armor makes it an inestimably dangerous thing to go up against in ground battles. Its ability to be deployed with the aid of dropships makes insertions into battlefield fairly easy — with a boost drive attached the Wraith can temporarily attain a speed boost for fast insertions, or to plow through enemy infantry, armor or obstructions in the way of the vehicle. Its mortar cannon provides devastating damage to anything in its ways and is known for its physiological effects on humans at the mere sight of one. 'Disadvantages' The Type-26 AGC's main disadvantage is its slow speed, because of the vehicles massive weight. While the boost drive on the vehicle can propel the vehicle to high speed the maneuverability of the vehicle is compromised — because the gravity propulsion drive does not contain anything to counter the vehicles moving mass it is possible for the vehicle to run into anything from friendly vehicles to infantry to even propelling itself off a ledge or into a ditch. Like most assault guns, the Type-26 AGC has a dead area, a zone in which the mortar cannon cannot fire without risking damaging or destroying itself. The slow speed and cumbersome nature of the Wraith makes it prone to boarding action — while the front of the vehicle is harder to board because of the Type-52 DESW, the rear is most susceptible to boarding because of a weak spot in the rear. A small rotating cylinder exhaust port in the back is one of the only vulnerable spots on the Wraith that if hit with a medium explosive device can damage the vehicle severely. The gunner operating the Type-52 DESW is also an easy target for marksman and sniper fire; because of the massive cannon right behind the gunner the turret ring cannot traverse a full 360 degrees. 'Gallery' H2-Wraith-Active.png|The Wraith Tank that was used during Halo 2's main game play in 2004... (With Turret out) H2_Wraith_Inactive.png|The Wraith Tank that was used during Halo 2's main game play in 2004... (With Turret lowered) WraithH3.png|Wraith Tank used during Halo 3's gameplay, many of these tanks were destroyed during the Moderation War, where only 1 survived Sandbox... Wraith_Halo_Spartan_Assault.png|Wraith that was shown in Halo Spartan Op... (This Tank was never used during the Machinima Condemnation) Reach_10373385_Medium.jpg|An unknown model, of the Wraith Tank on an unknown Halo Server, possibly Combat Evolved... Wraith_The_Storm.jpg|Wraith seen during Halo 3's Campaign... HaloCE-WraithMortarTank-transparent.png|A Wraith's early designs that were created before the modern day concepts of the tank in Halo Combat Evolved in 2001... HReach_MPBeta_Wraith.png|The Halo 4 concept model of the Wraith, that was used during Halo Reach's storyline and matchmaking sessions... Reach_Wraith_Active.png|Wraith Halo 4 Model with Turret raised... H4_Wraith.png|The latest model of the Wraith Tank, from Halo 4... Trivia'' Category:Vehicles Category:Vehicles created by Bungie Category:Vehicles created by 343 Industries Category:Halo Tanks